estab87’s Q1 2022 Auto Run

[estab87]

hey folks,

This will be my first diary on here. Hoping to use this as a learning experience for myself and others, and to help hold myself accountable with staying in touch with folks in the community It’s been really tough remaining social these past couple years.

About the grow:

I like to keep things simple. I run Promix HP myco + extra perlite, and for nutes I use the GH trio at approximately half dose, along with a half dose of Big Bud and Bud Candy during the appropriate stages of flower. I hand water everything. I also like variety, so it’s rare that you’ll see a monocrop in my spaces unless there’s a specific project in mind.

I have two small grow areas: a 4x2 equipped with 2 SF1000 quantum boards, and a DIY grow tote also equipped with an SF 1000, lined with Mylar blankets and some small AC Infinity fans for intake and exhaust - basically a space bucket on steroids.

Strains I’m currently running in the tent (all in 3 gallon fabric pots):
-Blue Microverse F5 from Nightowl Seeds
-Strawberry Nuggets x Skywalker freebie from Mephisto
-Marshmallow Martian from Wildwood Seeds: (Grape Dosi Breath [RocBud] x Purple Rocberry Breeders Cut[RocBud]) x Toofless Alien[Mephisto]
-Jungle Love from Wildwood Seeds: (Double Grape x 3Bears OG) [Mephisto] x Forum Stomper [Mephisto]
-There’s a little baby CDLC S1 (Meph via @BasementBeans] in a solo cup that will likely be used to collect some pollen.

Strains I’m running in the DIY tote (all in 1 gallon fabric pots):
-Creme de la Chem S1 from Mephisto [via @BasementBeans]
-Sour Crack from Mephisto
-S.A.D (Sweet Afghani Delicious) from Sweet Seeds.

Most plants, with the exception of the Sour Crack and the solo cup CDLC which were planted near the end of Jan, hit the soil on Jan 15, 2022, so as of today when this post was created, we are at day ~22 for most and here’s how things are looking so far, from a crappy Wyze cam view:

Tent:

Tote:

So far, for the most part everything is looking healthy and growing at the expected pace, especially the plants in the tent. It took me some time to dial in the temps and RH in the tote (you’ll notice the seedling mat in there to help increase the ambient temp), so I am worried those plants may suffer from some stunting, but time will tell. Things are nicely dialed in now, but it took me about a week to sort things in there.

Photos of earlier progress so far to follow - I’ve gotta dig em up, and I’ll continue to update this likely every 3-5 days or so until all plants are finished.

Hope some auto lovers find this interesting!

Cheers.

[estab87]

Jan 17, 2022 - or day 2, everything has popped and is above soil …yeah, I’m that guy that transplants Automatics

Jan 20, 2022 or day 5 - At this stage everything is almost at about the point I like to transplant autos to their final pots.

Jan 21, 2022 or day 6 - Everything transplanted to final pots. At this stage, still keeping them all in the main tent as I am having issues keeping the DIY tote warm enough, especially at this early stage of plant life.

Jan 25/26 2022 or day 10/11 - I’ve finally dialed in the conditions in the tote to a point where I am comfortable moving over the smaller pots, I also decided to pop a Mephisto Sour Crack bean on the 26th which is shown in the photo below:

Jan 29, 2022 or day 14 - The transplants in the tent are starting to grow at a noticeable rate, and Sour Crack has broken soil in the tote. A little worried the CDLC may be stunted, so you’ll notice a red solo cup show up in my tent, a spare bean I popped to replace it.

January 31, 2022 or day 16 - plants in both growing spaces showing more noticeable growth, everything looking healthy, but I am still a little worried the CDLC might be stunted.

Feb 3, 2022 or day 19 - More steady growth. Unfortunately I accidentally spilled some water with nutrients on one of the large fan leaves on the Jungle Love (top left in the tent). My beautiful plants are no longer symmetrical but still healthy and growing at a good pace. I’m now slightly less worried that I’ve stunted the CDLC, but I am wondering at this point based on the leaf shape & how close the nodes are together, that I might have the infamous “cabbage” pheno.

Feb 4, 2022 or day 20 - more steady growth overnight, no issues with pests or deficiencies so far. Noticing plants in the tent are leaning slightly to the left. Wondering if the fans on one side were more intense than the other… turns out I had one light turned up to 85% and the other set to 100%, so the girls were reaching for the brighter one. Whoops. On the positive side, everything in the tent is still looking healthy and all are showing sex.

Feb 6, 2022 or day 22 - here we are today. No sign of flower from any of the plants yet, but all still healthy & chugging along. The plants in the tent appear more healthy and are growing more vigourously than those in my DIY unit, but I suppose that is to be expected:

[GrowingInThePines]

That is a nice line up and your first grow. I killed (Letterly) my first try.
Yours look good.

[estab87]

Hey there, not actually my first grow - just my first grow shared as a newbie here on OG

Thanks for the kind words though!

[TopicalWave]

Taking a seat.

[estab87]

February 9, 2022 or day 25

Yesterday was watering day in the main tent, the aromas are starting to come through and everything in there is still chugging along & looking mighty healthy:

I wish the same could be said for the tote. I think I have managed to stunt the plants due to low temps early on, and had been watering a bit too heavy handedly as this is my first run in 1 gallon pots. I also think I’ve got a cabbage pheno of the CDLC from the looks of things.

CDLC & Sour Crack in the tote:

Sour Crack & S.A.D in the tote:

Take care and I’ll update you all again in a few days!

[estab87]

February 10, 2022 or Day 26.

The gals in the main tent got a small haircut (9 fan leaves across the 4 plants) and a lot of LST. Things were getting a little beyond what leaf tucking could do to keep all the new growth under appropriate light.

Interesting fact: The Blue Microverse is incredibly tough to train being such a ‘squat’ plant - it’s got thick & short branches - but hopefully what was done today will be helpful.

Before:

After:

[estab87]

February 14, 2022 or day 30. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The girls in the tote have stayed very small, except the Sour Crack which is much earlier in development than the rest, but growing far more rapidly. I definitely stunted the CDLC and Sweet Afghani Delicious, but I will see them through and chalk them up as learning experiences.

Tote:

The Tent, again, is much healthier and growing more appropriately, I’m guessing this is due to the temp issues I had in the tote at the beginning of the grow (since resolved) and the tent staying very consistent. Everything is showing signs of preflower, has had significant LST (minus the blue microverse, it’s already a very squat & tight noded plant) and a small bit of defoliation. Excited for what this week has to come, as this is when things usually start to really “take off.”

Tent:

Happy Valentine’s Day and see you all soon for the next check-in!

[estab87]

February 18, 2022 or Day 34

The last few days I had been working on a magnesium deficiency with my Jungle Love & Strawberry Nuggets x Skywalker (back 2 in the main tent) plants in the main tent. It took some time to identify and treat but we’re out of the woods now and looking much better.

Today was fun. All the gals got their first major defoliation, some training, and the gals in the tote got watered after their haircut as well. Everyone is happy.

Here’s how things are progressing…

Tent:

DIY tote:

For those following, you might notice I’ve moved fan & humidifier locations in the tote which has really helped strengthen the plants recently. I’ve also added a couple babies in red solo cups to the tote: one of them is Trizzlers from Twenty20 (via @BasementBeans) and the other is a Mephisto freebie of Alien vs Triangle x Mango Smile. They’ve both sprouted and I’d guess both helmets will be off by tomorrow at latest.

The Sour Crack (back right in the tote) was added 2 weeks to the day after the CDLC & S.A.D, and is already almost outgrowing them. In those two weeks, I had dialed my temperatures in, when I was struggling initially to keep them above 18c. Theyre now at a steady 26c (avg) since the day the Sour Crack was popped, and you can really see the difference and the importance of correct temperatures in your growing environment early in the growth cycle. Neat, but also disappointing that I stunted the first two.

Hope you’re all enjoying this and having a great Friday! Take care.

[estab87]

February 20th, 2022 or day 36.

Grow tote is starting to fill out really nicely and the plants, although small, are super healthy and progressing at a really rapid rate. The tote is at a point now, that in 1 gallon pots they need feed/water everyday as they’re transitioning to flower. The Sour Crack (started 2 weeks earlier) is still growing like crazy and I suspect will outgrow the other two strains quite quickly as it starts it’s stretch.

Here is the tote progress this morning before I water & train them:

The Tent is finally turning around, and the Jungle Love & SN x Skywalker are looking a lot healthier and spending a lot less time with “the droop,” and although still a bit pale, are greening up nicely now vs what they had been when they were experiencing deficiencies earlier on. Marshmallow Martian from Wildwood seems to be the furthest along in the flowering process thus far (front left) but I suspect that the Blue Microverse (front right) is going to speed up and overtake her soon, as it’s NightOwl’s fastest finishing strain.

Here is the tent as of this AM:

Thanks for keepin’ an eye folks, things should start to get interesting reeeeal soon now that we’re seeing flowers on all plants (except those planted later).

[estab87]

February 23, 2022 or day 39.

Good morning OGers!

It’s been a few days…it’s time for an update! I took a few better pictures this time rather than just using the security camera footage, to give you a better idea of how things are progressing.

Here’s the tote as of this morning, pre watering:

I’m sad (but also mildly excited, since I built it myself lol) that the plants in the tote appear much healthier than the 4 in the tent, but all is good. You can see the S.A.D on the left has really hit her stretch and is filling in her side of the tent. The CDLC cabbage pheno is still doing its cabbage thing in the middle, and on the right hand side is the Mephisto Sour Crack which was planted 2 weeks after the others.

You’ll also notice the humidifiers have been removed from both locations, this was a) to free up space as the plants are hitting their main stage of growth and b) because at this point plants are sweating enough humidity on their own to keep the spaces at a healthy level. I also added an extra fan to the tote, as I suspect it’s going to be a giant box of green (even more so than already!) within a few days, and will need more help with circulation. Anywho…

Here is the tent as of this morning, before any watering or training:

Overall- the tent is looking healthier than it has been, though still not up to my usual expected standards. That said, even with my earlier struggles, the strong genetics are prevailing.

The first two plants to be showing any signs of frost are both from Wildwood Seeds! Only 2 plants are showing so far, the Marshmallow Martian (front left in the tent) and the Jungle Love (back left).

Marshmallow Martian:

Jungle Love:

If you’re wondering where my solo cups from the tote and tent disappeared to, they’re still in there, just a tad harder to see now

More to come in the next few days, all the best.

[estab87]

February 24, 2022 or day 40

Just thought I would post a couple photos from today. The DIY tote got a bit of a rearrange. I’m still surprised at how well these plants are going, and a bit embarrassed that the plants in the tent don’t appear as healthy as these little suckers! Anyway, here they are after some feng shui in their environment:

The tent is looking increasingly healthy, but I’m admittedly a bit annoyed with them though. One of the not-so fun things of growing a variety vs a monocrop, is that not all the girls follow a similar feeding schedule - they’re never thirsty at the same time. I still think I prefer the little extra hard work for the variety though.

Anyway, here’s the tent today, the two strains from Wildwood are still the only ones frosting up at this point:

Marshmallow Martian:

Jungle Love:

[estab87]

February 26, 2022 or Day 42

The 1 gallons in the tote got their daily feed this morning as usual. Not much else to report there except for a bit of a haircut on each, most importantly some massive fan leaves on the Sour Crack that were blocking light from key areas below.

In the tent, Blue Microverse F5 and the Jungle Love got a feeding this morning as well, no haircut there though. I’m now seeing trichome development on 3/4 of the strains in the tent, with only SN x Skywalker from Mephisto not producing any yet.

Tent photos:

Trichome shots:

Jungle Love:

Marshmallow Martian:

Blue Microverse F5:

Excited to see the tent finally looking healthy and the flowers starting to stack. The next few weeks are when all the fun starts

Have a great weekend all!

[TopicalWave]

Looking great @estab87. That Marshmellow Martian I want to keep an eye on… 5k’s pics of of the seeded plant were soooo frost it was crazy.

Anyways it’s a little quiet in here… mind if I invite a few fellow Canadians and maybe a few honourary Canadians to the party here?

@Oldtimerunderground @Gpaw @Pigeonman @DougDawson @4ftfarmer @Yetigrows @Astrodude @Heliosphear @CADMAN @Trowertripper @gmike @GMan

Hey guys, it’s way too quiet in my friend @estab87’s thread that he is putting some good effort into keeping up. Show him some OG love please!

[estab87]

The Martian is the one I’m most looking forward to as well. The photos he sent me were amazing, and I grew the Grape Dosi Breath (in the parental lineage) last year, and I truly loved it. My favourite automatic plant to grow, and smoke, ever. Hoping for similar from the Marshmallow Martian!

Thanks for inviting the crew to pull up a chair @TopicalWave - welcome everyone!

[Gpaw]

Oh… I’ve been watching!

Your grow is going very well
I’m particularly interested in seeing how well the 3 gallon pots work for you (I’m trying to figure out if I can down size from my 5G pots…)

Cheers
G

[estab87]

This is my first run in 3 gallons actually @Gpaw - it was a bit of an adjustment from a watering perspective, but I’m not seeing any difference in the size of the plants vs the 5 gallons I used to run like you do, which I was worried about!

Seems like a net positive overall, I can fit an extra plant in the tent this way, and haven’t noticed any reduction in the size of the plants by slightly down-potting!

[Gpaw]

I’ve been looking at this for a while…

BOG was using a 4 gallon pot for flower, which it turns out is an ‘oddball’ size. Then I discovered that the nursery pot sizes aren’t exactly as advertised…

i.e. a 2 gallon nursery (or trade pot) is really 1.6 gallon, a 5 gallon is 3.84 etc.
That got me checking pot volumes (231 cubic inches per US gallon).

Apparently some of the Chinese manufacturers ‘didn’t get that memo’ so some pots are nursery pot sizes and some are actual.

yes, I know I’m ‘overthinking’ it but it’s in my nature…

Cheers
G

[TopicalWave]

You know I have looked at my 2 gallon pots more than a few times and thought it looked like a small volume for 2 gallons. Then you factor in the fact that everyone doesn’t fill the pots fully and its even less than that. Hmm…

[Oldtimerunderground]

@estab87

I’m now seeing trichome development on 3/4 of the strains in the tent

@estab87

The next few weeks are when all the fun starts

Looks like I came through at the right time

I’m pretty sure I stumbled upon your thread already but made the mistake of not putting it on “watching”, an error that has now been corrected